The "First International Conference on Translational Research and Pre-Clinical Strategies in Radio-Oncology" (ICTR 2000) will be organized in Lugano, Switzerland, from March 5 till March 8, 2000. The Conference is sponsored and planned as a joint effort by an independent organization with members from a number of countries. These doctors and scientists are involved in research and health care activities related to radiation sciences and are leading major Oncology Institutions in their country. The members of the Organizing Committee pertain to the three main disciplines of Radio-Oncology: radiation physicists, radio-biologists and clinicians. It is planned that the Conference will be organized every three years. The organization of the Conference on Translational Research results from the great expectation, in the oncology community, for a real mutation in clinical radiotherapy, as well as from the need for addressing more formally the strong links between new technologies, biological/chemical tools, and prospective clinical investigations. Trying to conform to the changing relationships between research and clinical application in Radiation Oncology, the emphasis of the Conference is the individualization of cancer treatment. Education will be one of the major features of this first International Conference, especially through Forum sessions, Debates, Workshops and Symposia, which will give chairmen and speakers an opportunity to promote discussion between senior staff members and young scientists willing to expand their knowledge on "from bench to bedside" research. The target is to gather more than 600 participants, with an expected 50 percent proportion of U.S. biologists, physicists and oncologists.